Thank you to Danijela Trajkovic of A Too Powerful Word for publishing my poem today.

https://atoopowerfulword.wixsite.com/magazine/post/linda-imbler

Protective Coloration

Protective coloration,

prescribed illusions, cheating changeovers.

For predators with a hungry form,

maybe an arctic fox

with his attacking design

built around his foxy affiliation

with ice and snow.

Or, perhaps prey,

a glass octopus, transparent,

hiding from whales or sea birds.

Delicate winged butterflies,

up against a tree bark,

playing hide-and-seek with frogs and lizards.

Even those with a penchant for glamour,

spiders and peacocks, vivid, kaleidoscopic.

When all are done integrating,

what remains is a safe and happy life.

Humanity,

polychromatic sculptures

with an external, laid wrap of skin.

Humanity, a distorted spoil

by those who speak sin,

descended from some primitive wrong.

We, without the constant lock

of all the light that

potentially shines from inside us,

using our colorations

to hide that glow.

For now, humanity,

misused figures only forged

in the image of the bound.